New Volvo EV Sedan In Development, Will Go On Sale By 2025

Volvo is already developing a flagship EV sedan that's set to go on sale by 2025.

If you haven’t heard, Swedish automaker Volvo is set to go fully electric by the year 2030. Ahead of which, the Geely-owned marque already has both the XC40 and C40 Recharge on sale presently, and it also has the EX90 and EX30 EVF SUVs to follow up with next year, plus an EM90 luxury EV MPV too.

Now, reports have surfaced online that Volvo will also have a new electric sedan model that will go on sale by 2025. This is indeed good news as it demonstrates that the Swedish luxury automobiles marque isn’t ready to ditch the traditional three-box sedan formula just yet – and perhaps its long-roofed estate offshoot too.

Volvo staff in Zhejiang, China, posing with a veiled pre-production prototype of the V551, or what many laud will be christened as the 'ES90'. (Image: Teknikens Varld)

In fact, development work for what is reportedly codenamed ‘V551’ internally has already begun, and Volvo has already built a pre-production prototype for which in China recently. The latter was confirmed through a photograph acquired by online sources through Volvo’s employee intranet.

Said photograph shows Volvo’s production team in Zhejiang – presumably parent company Geely’s headquarters – huddled around signs that reads “Volvo Cars V551 First VP Car Celebration” and “Confidential Top Secret". Before you ask, ‘VP’ stands for 'Verification Prototype'.

Presently, Volvo has both the XC40 and C40 Recharge twins leading its all-electric spearhead.

Apart from the XC40 and C40 Recharge twins, Volvo also has the new EX90 flagship EV SUV, its smaller EX30 sibling, as well as the new EM90 luxury EV MPV. All are set to go on sale in 2024 and 2025 too.

The luxury four-door is expected to underpin Volvo's SPA2 platform – the same bones used to build the EX90 flagship EV SUV and its Polestar 4 twin. This also means the platform will be able to accommodate electric drivetrains operating at either 400 or 800 volts.

Leaked specifications by Volvo suggests the new EV saloon, which will likely be christened as the ‘ES90’, will likely have the choice between single-motor, rear-wheel (RWD) drive and dual-motor, all-wheel drive (AWD) setups available.

Juicing said e-motor(s) will be a 111 kWh battery (107 kWh usable) that’s capable of delivering up to 600 KM range in single-motor, RWD form. Additionally, Volvo reportedly shared that the ES90 will sit 4,999 MM long with a 3,100 MM wheelbase, 1,945 MM wide, and 1,547 MM tall.

A speculative render of the upcoming Volvo 'ES90' EV saloon by local digital artist Theophilus Chin (@Theottle).

According to details disclosed by Volvo, the upcoming 'ES90' will have a similar footprint as the BMW i5 and Mercedes-Benz EQE.

Altogether, the latter dimensions indicate that the ES90 will sit 61MM shorter, but 32 MM taller and 45 MM wider over tis German contemporaries (read: BMW i5, Mercedes-Benz EQE, and upcoming Audi A6 e-tron). Said Swedish rival will also have a 105 MM longer wheelbase over said Germans.

In terms of weight, the upcoming ‘ES90’ is expected to tip the scale at around 2,500 KG in single-motor form, and roughly 2,600 KM in range-topping dual-motor guise. Beyond which, no other details have surfaced, but we can likely expect out first look at it sometime in the second half (H2) of 2024.